Muggle Math is Hard!
by It'sawhisper
Summary: Hermione teaches Draco how to do Multi-Step Equations. BY the way I did NOT come up with Muggle-Breath. I read it in another fic. So whoever came up with it please don't be mad!


_Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANYTHING AFFILATED TO J.K. ROWLING. NO MONEY WAS MADE OFF THIS STORY._

_Katie Johnson 12/2/09_

Muggle math is hard!

Hermione Granger was in the Heads' Common Room when the portrait hole opened. Looking up from her Muggle math textbook, she smiled at a very sweaty Head-Boy. He sneered back. Even though the War had ended and bigoted feelings against Muggle-Borns where suppose to be put to an end, Draco was one of a hundred other Slytherins who still had prejudiced feeling.

"Hello, Draco," Hermione greeted. She turned her attention back to her math book. "What's that Muggle-Breath?" Draco asked with a sneer. "It's a math book, Malfoy. And if you would as be as so kind to stop calling me Muggle-Breath I would appreciate it." Snottily, Hermione turned back to her book. Draco walked over to the forest green couch Hermione was sitting on with a swish of his Qudditch robes, and plopped down.

"Teach me." Draco stated, serious. Hermione stopped reading, glared at her book, smiled, and looked up at Draco. "Sure." For some reason unknown to Draco, Hermione's smile had turned in to a wicked grin. "Draco, do you know anything at all about 7th grade Muggle math?" Hermione asked him. Draco shook his head no.

"Well we're going to start with solving a multi-step equ- Do you think you could STOP doing that?" Draco had interrupted Hermione by taking the book out of her hands and flipped through it, again, and again, and again. Without taking his eyes off the book he nodded. "Thank you." Hermione said. Carefully taking the book she started again. "Now, as I was saying. We are staring with solving a multi-step equation."

Hermione opened the book up to the 600s and flipped a few more pages until she came to a page labeled _Guided Practice._ Draco looked cautiously over the page and pointed to an easy looking one. It read,

_-3r+18=6r._ "How do you solve this one?" He asked her. Hermione took out a quill and parchment before she answered. "What you would do is get the like terms together on one side, Draco. Are you following?" She explained-asked.

Draco shook his head no. "What are like terms?" Hermione nodded to herself. She figured he wouldn't get it. " Like terms have a letter or a variable as Muggles call them. You have to get all the numbers with letters to one side." Draco nodded. "So how do I do that?" He asked. "You have to do the inverse operation of a negative." Hermione stated. "So you would add the -3 to the -3 and it would cancel right?" Draco asked, not to confident. Hermione nodded. "That's right. Now you have to add the 3r to the 6r." She explained more. "So you would get 9r. Then what?" Draco asked.

"Good job. Now bring down the 18. Is it positive or negative?" Hermione asked him. "Positive." Draco smirked, he was pleased with himself. He had spent no time whatsoever in the Muggle world and he was A- cing there math. All the while they where writing down the steps. Draco looked at his problem on his parchment. It now read, 18=9r . Draco was now positive he was stumped. " What do I do now Muggle- Breath?" He asked her.

"I thought we agreed that you would not call me that anymore, Malfoy. Anyway what is 9r?" Hermione scolded-asked him. Draco looked at the paper of a second. "It's 9r, right?" Draco asked. Hermione rolled her eyes. "No! I mean, like, what type of math is it?" Draco nodded his head. It made more sense to him when she lowered her smart a bit. "Multiplication." Draco stated.

"Great. Now what is the inverse of multiplication?" She asked him. This time Draco rolled his eyes. "Division." He answered. "Uh-huh. So now divide 9r by 9r, " Draco did as he was told. "Now divide 18 by 9 and what do you get?" Hermione asked him. Draco closed his eyes as he did the division. He wasn't very good at division. "2," He answered. "Good. Now bring down the r and the equal sign." Hermione told him. He did. His answer looked like this, 2=r. Draco jumped off the couch and ran into his door on the way to his room. He, Draco Malfoy, as steamed, Pureblood, solved a Muggle math problem. Who cared if he was 16 and he was doing 7th grade math anyway?

* * *

**Examples: How to solve a Multi-step equation.**

**1) Always get the like terms on the side without a number with a variable. Do the inverse operation to do so.**

**2) Bring down the other numbers and the equal sign.**

**3)Again do inverse operation. (Multiplying or Dividing).**

**4) Keep answer where it is, bring down the variable and equal sign, and you solved the multi-step equation.**

**Ex. Of the one Draco and Hermione worked on:**

**-3r+18=6r**

**+3 +3r**

**18=9r**

**18=9r/9r**

**9/18**

**2=r**


End file.
